Longtime Amherst doctor part of 11-member group

Celina White (right), shown during a 2011 speech to the Amherst Rotary Club, has been chosen to lead a provincial physician recruitment team that will issue a report to minister Leo Glavine in the spring.

HALIFAX – The former medical chief of staff for the Cumberland Health Authority and a longtime Amherst doctor has been selected to chair a new action team for physician recruitment.

Dr. Celina White, who retired last year from the CHA, will lead the team that will provide advice and recommendations on how to improve programs and strategies for the recruitment and retention of physicians in the province.

“As a rural community physician, I have been concerned for quite some time about the lack of access to doctors in the province, particularly in rural Nova Scotia,” said White. I welcome the opportunity to chair this action team and to help provide solutions.”

The team is expected to make recommendations to Health Minister Leo Glavine in the spring.

An immediate priority for the group will be to develop a tuition relief program for medical graduates. Government will also continue to grow its collaborative care teams across the province

“Nova Scotians need to know they have access to a doctor to receive the care they need. For too long this has been the case for many Nova Scotians,” Health Minister Leo Glavine said. “The Physician Recruitment and Retention Action Team will provide insidght into how to improve our ability to attract and keep doctors in Nova Scotia, especially in rural areas.”

White’s predecessor as CHA chief of staff, Dr. David Gass, is also a member of the committee, along with Colchester County Mayor Bob Taylor.

Other members include Dr. Mahmood Naqvi from Doctors Nova Scotia, Dr. Bill Lowe from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Tony Arnson from Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre, Dr. Rex Dunn from the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Shirley Watson-Poole and Shirley Symes from the district health authorities (recruiting), public member Janet Newton and Lynda Campbell from the Department of Health.

Celina White (right), shown during a 2011 speech to the Amherst Rotary Club, has been chosen to lead a provincial physician recruitment team that will issue a report to minister Leo Glavine in the spring.